The National Transport and Safety Authority is once again facing serious questions after new claims that some of its officers have been working together with certain driving schools to give out driving licenses in ways that break the law.
These concerns were brought forward by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah, who said the behaviour of the Authority is putting the lives of many Kenyans at risk.
He warned that when people who have not been trained well are allowed to drive, the results can be deadly, especially on major roads where accidents continue to rise.
While requesting a formal statement from the Senate Standing Committee on Roads and Transportation on Wednesday November 19, Omtatah explained that the problem is bigger than what many people think.
He said the poor state of road safety in Kenya is linked to such illegal practices, which make it easy for unqualified people to get licenses.
According to him, the Authority has a duty to protect Kenyans, but allowing such behaviour means the laws meant to keep roads safe are being ignored.
These concerns follow earlier claims that NTSA has been part of irregular licensing for years. One of the most shocking cases came from an investigation by the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Undercover journalists who had never driven before managed to get driving licenses without taking the required test. At a driving school in Eastleigh, an official offered to help them get a license for a fee of fourteen thousand shillings.
The reporters said a contact at NTSA headquarters helped them receive a smart driving license after they paid him six thousand shillings and later another two thousand.
The Kenya Driving Schools Association has also accused some NTSA officials of working with dishonest driving schools to issue licenses to people who never trained.
They said that some instructors and school workers are part of a group that allows people to buy licenses instead of learning how to drive. This means that many drivers on the road may not know the rules, may not understand road signs and may not know how to respond in emergencies.
In September, the Road Safety Association of Kenya called for the cancellation of all licenses that NTSA issued in the last six years. The chair of the group, David Kiarie, said that many of those licenses were given to people who never attended training but paid to get them.
He claimed that this is one of the main reasons the country is seeing more deaths and accidents on the roads.
For this reason, Omtatah asked the Senate Committee to push for answers on what NTSA is doing to fight corruption inside the Authority. He also wants to know what systems exist to check and monitor driving schools to make sure they are teaching properly and licensing only trained drivers.
Omtatah further asked the government to explain what steps the Ministry of Roads and Transport is taking to improve safety on the roads.
He noted that major highways such as Nairobi Mombasa, Malaba Eldoret and Eldoret Malaba are dangerous because they are poorly lit, do not have proper road signs and have many unmarked bumps that make driving unsafe.
He said the Roads Committee must report the measures the government is putting in place to ensure all major roads have enough lighting and proper signage to improve visibility and protect both drivers and pedestrians.
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